NEW YORK — Promoter Eddie Hearn’s attempt to get Ireland’s Katie Taylor her homecoming fight to take place at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, might be getting some extra help from another Irish fighting legend.
From Conor McGregor.
McGregor, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, who along with Taylor are the two most recognizable fighters out of the country, reached out to Hearn over Twitter to offer his assistance in bridging the gap in cost to make the fight happen for Taylor in the iconic Irish facility.
Taylor, 36, the undisputed lightweight champion, has never fought as a professional in Ireland. McGregor has fought in Ireland multiple times in his professional MMA career.
🔥 Let’s talk 📞 ☘️ https://t.co/pin9ZldVeS
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) February 3, 2023
McGregor said he would offer to help sponsor the show. Hearn told ESPN and other outlets over the past week that the issue with Taylor fighting at Croke Park on May 20 has come down to cost.
He told ESPN it wasn’t the rental of the facility but the ancillary costs around staging the event at Croke Park, from security to some of the grass issues inside the stadium.
“It’s not the rent, it’s the cost associated with it,” Hearn told ESPN. “An additional cost beyond what you would expect to pay.
“It could be security, it could be stewarding, it could be laying the pitch. It could be all kinds of different things but the total cost is three times more than staging at Wembley [Stadium], so it’s not having a pop at them, but it’s an opportunity to create a historic event and we would still like to do it. But unfortunately we’re out of time.”
If McGregor were to help, it could push the event through — which could be a rematch against Amanda Serrano from last April’s fight at a sold-out Madison Square Garden that was considered the best women’s boxing fight in history.
In your DMs 👊 🥃 https://t.co/5MZL8jehae
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) February 3, 2023
According to Hearn, the plan is to have Taylor’s next fight in Ireland, no matter what, and said 3Arena in Dublin would be the host if things continue to fall out with Croke Park. It would be a much smaller event, though, as 3Arena can only hold up to 13,000 people where Croke Park can hold up to 82,000.
Hearn said if Serrano were to not be the opponent — Serrano fights Erika Cruz for the undisputed featherweight title Saturday in New York — Alycia Baumgardner or Chantelle Cameron would be likely candidates if they want to fight at 130 pounds. Baumgardner would first need to beat Elhem Mekhaled on Saturday night to win the undisputed junior lightweight title and Cameron is the undisputed junior welterweight champion.
Source: www.espn.com